The City of Troy hosted a community discussion with police this week, a culmination of two years of work to build relationships with lower-income and minority communities. But, local activists say their voices are going unheard.
On Tuesday evening, the lawn in front of Russell Sage College was occupied by a large white tent and dozens of uniformed city police officers.
City officials and community members trickled in for the night’s “Community and Police Partnership Dialogue, ” organized in partnership with a consulting firm. The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group has been meeting monthly with police department command staff and providing individual officers at least 7 hours of training.
Troy Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden said the night comes after two years of work.
“Everybody in the department has been involved in it, they put a lot of effort into it. I’m very happy with their work, very pleased with their commitment to the effort,” said Madden.
Less than two weeks after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in 2020, thousands came to Troy to participate in one of the largest local protests for racial justice. An executive order by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo directed communities to develop their own police reform plans.
Mayor Madden says Troy police were already working on implementing reforms prior to Floyd’s death.
“They were actually adopted before the incident in 2020, George Floyd incident. But we just weren't talking about it, the public didn't know about it. So now we're trying to be more proactive about sharing the work that we are doing with the community,” said Madden.
As police congregated outside, Chief Dan DeWolf was looking forward to the night’s dialogue.
“Well, I just hope to see, you know, more engagement with the community and friendships created,” said DeWolf.
DeWolf said Troy has taken a number of steps in his nearly two years as chief. The city has dedicated officers to respond to mental health situations, has three school resource officers, and has brought on six additional officers for its community policing unit – something that DeWolf said has been beneficial to the department and neighbors.
“It's really taken a lot of load off the patrol division, too, because they're able to devote more time to problems that maybe take longer than just an initial response. So it's been very helpful to neighbors to know that, like, this problem, is going to have extra attention and is going to be solved,” said DeWolf.
DeWolf also highlighted what he called community engagement details, where police are deployed into neighborhoods with the department’s mobile command center, which looks like an RV.
“They're not there for any kind of enforcement action. I mean, if there needs to be there is, but they're more to just engage the community and talk with them and see what their needs are,” said DeWolf.
City council president and Republican mayoral candidate Carmella Mantello served on the planning committee for the night’s dialogue. She said she wanted to send a message of ‘one Troy’ during a time when the city has experienced a spike in crime, comparing some hot spots to ‘the Wild West.’
“So what we want to hear tonight, how can we do better? How can we continue to move those partnerships forward? But also ensure that our police department understands they have our support. It's not us versus them, it's us. And we're going to move Troy forward, we're going to make our neighborhoods and streets safer,” said Mantello.
Inside Sage’s Bush Memorial Center, police were seated with the public in dozens of small groups, as they listened to speakers. The first was Jessica Ashley, a longtime community activist, former president of the Troy chapter of the NAACP and currently affiliated with the Justice Center of Rensselaer County. Ashley spoke about the deep-rooted community feelings toward police and the 2016 police killing of Edson Thevenin. The City of Troy settled a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Thevenin’s family in 2021. A memo in support of the settlement from the city characterized the fatal shooting as justified, and drew outrage from local activists.
Face to face, police and community members were asked to discuss a series of prompts: What would you like the police do more of? What should they stop or change? What should the police start doing?
Though intended to bring a broad spectrum of community members together, those inside the college were mostly older and white.
Outside, about a dozen activists held signs and displayed the names of several people brutalized or killed by police – including Thevenin’s.
Activist Luz Marquez commented on the noticeable lack of young people and minorities attending the community conversation.
“We know that police engage and then disrupt and interrupt young kids’ lives. Why aren't they here? Where are they at? You understand me? Where are the mamas that sit on the corner that look out the window that watch all the kids, right? Where are they at?” said Marquez.
Alfonso Rodriguez spoke about the location of the night’s event – on a private college campus in a wealthier, whiter part of town.
“On any given day, any given moment, you probably wouldn't see inner-city youth occupying this space. And if they were, what message does it send when you have this amount of cops, all localized in one space? What message does that communicate to a young person who might have had a bad experience with a cop previously?” said Rodriguez.
Damaris Miller wanted conversation but called the city-organized event ineffective.
“But that dialogue needs to be on the terms of the people who have the least amount of power. It needs to be on the terms of the Black community, which is why I think we keep hearing from Luz and Alfonso about why aren't the folks who have the least power in the city, the Black youth, the folks who are being displaced by our housing crisis, why aren't they leading this conversation?” said Miller.
The activists are sponsoring their own community dialogue. Their event, called The People’s Voice, is set for 6:30 p.m. on May 31st at the Oakwood Community Center.
